Before the harvesting roundup I must return to my favorite – the industrious bumblebee. The Rose of Sharon, hibiscus, thrives alongside the deck and each morning their pollen offerings bring in the bumblebees.
They scramble deep into the flowers and their activity sprays the air with pollen which bespeckles them.
And they load their saddlebags with food.
Much as I like my honey bees and appreciate their excellent honey, the bumblebees cannot be supplanted in my affections.
The tomato season will soon end. What a luxury it has been eating delicious tomatoes at every opportunity specially tomato, cucumber and onion salad seasoned with vinaigrette. And tomato sauce is in the freezer for the winter months. A favorite in this region, but perhaps less well known elsewhere, is okra. Best to pick them when small and they can be eaten off the plant or we grill them since we are not into frying.
My apples are staggered throughout the season and there is always a tree with offerings, though up to 50% must be shared with the smaller apple lovers. The one fruit tree which to date has been complete immune to pest pressure and which provides the best fruit of all is the Giant Korean Pear. Unlike the regular pears which are soft and sweet, this has a firmer texture and a haunting delicate sweetness. The pears are the size of baseballs and weigh around 1lb each, as shown below.
The pear tree is modest sized and provides about 20 pears a year, but they are all delicious. The corn was disappointing probably because it was the first time I had grown corn in the area and I had under watered. Cucumbers were delicious, the beans are still coming in, and a pleasant surprise has been the carrots which took their time to appear on the scene. Unusual have been the purple carrots which I understand was their original color before they were re-colored for the House of Orange. Next up will be the muscadine of which the scuppernong is the sweetest and most delectable. And now too, my thoughts turn to fall planting and I am preparing the beds and provisioning the seeds.